Desk or table article



( Ho Model.)

W. 81; L. DORSAM.

DESK OR TABLE ARTIGLE. I No. 514,351. Patented Feb. 6, 1894.

PATENT rricn.

WILLIAM DORSAM AND LOUIS DORSAM, OF MILLVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

DESK OR TABLE ARTICLE.

SPEGIFIGATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 514,351, dated February 6, 1894.

Applicationfiled July 10, 1893.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that we, WILLIAM DORSAM and Lotus DORSAM, citizens of the United States, residing at Millville, in the county of Cumberland and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Desk or Table Articles; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention is a table or desk article, which we preferably make of glass, although it may be made of other material, and which is adapted to be used when lying flat as a tray for matches, cigar ashes, pins, and the like; or when placed in an inclined position to serve as an easel or support for pens, or other articles, or merely as an ornament.

The invention consists of an article of the kind above indicated having the novel features of construction to be hereinafter pointed out.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is a plan or face View of the article. Fig. 2 is a side view. Fig. 3 is a perspective View, as seen from the rear, of the article when supported in an inclined position.

In the said drawings, Arepresents the body of the article which is of dish-shape, but otherwise may be of any preferred construction and configuration.

In the form of our invention shown the rim, a, of the article is of horseshoe-shape, and the central portion thereof, a, is depressed so that when the article is placed horizontally upon a desk or table, as shown in Fig. 1, it may serve as a tray.

B, B, B are legs which project from the under or rear side of the article and serve to support it firmly when laid down in a horizontal position.

G is a lug situated between the legs, B, B, and perforated, as at c. This lug forms the means of attachment for the rear leg or legs which may be used to hold the article in a more or less inclined position, as shown in Fig. 3. D represents such a rear support,

Serial No. 430,063. (No model.)

and as shown it consists of a piece of wire bent into substantially V- shape, and passed through the perforation cin the lug C. The two members of the V constitute the two rear supporting legs, at, d, for the article. A single rear supportingleg would operate to hold the article in an inclined position, but not so securely as by means of the arrangement shown. A support, D, like that shown can be easily and quickly applied to and removed from the article so that the latter can be adapted almost instantly to be used eitheras shown in Fig. 1, or as in Fig. 3. Indeed the support, D, need not be removed when the article is used as a tray, but may be folded thereunder.

E E represent legs secured to the rim a upon opposite sides of the body A, and projecting therefrom. supports or legs of the article when it is inclined; and they may also be used as handles by which the article can be manipulated when serving as a tray.

While we prefer to provide the article with the legs, E, E, yet they may be omitted without materially altering our invention.

F, F are lugs projecting outward from the rim, a, preferably near the points where the legs, E, join. They serve as supports upon which an article, such as a pencil or a photo graph, may be supported when the article is inclined.

When the article is made of glass, which is the material we prefer to use, it is shaped by suitable molding devices, and the perforation 0 is thereafter formed by drilling or otherwise.

The article may be given an ornamental design if desired.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A table or desk article of shallow dish shape having its under surface provided with legs to support it when lying flat, and with a lug to which a rear supporting leg may be secured, substantially as set forth.

2. A table or desk article of shallow dish They serve as the front shape having its under surface provided with it is desired to support the article in an inthe legs, B, B, B, and with the perforated lug, clined position, substantially as set forth.

0, and having also the legs, E, E, projecting In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures from the rim of the article, substantially as in presence of two witnesses.

5 set forth.

3. A table or desk article having its under g gg gffi surface provided with the legs adapted to support it when in a horizontal position, and Witnesses: with a support, D, hinged to the rear of the ALLEN M. KENDALL,

10 article and adapted to serve as a rear leg when JOHN G. GEISSINGER. 

